The need for interlocking containers and lids for bottles and cans is well known. Cardboard containers with integrally formed lid flaps are well known in the art. A drawback to such containers is the very limited lifetime due to ripping, tearing or puncturing of the containers. Therefore such containers are not readily reusable but must generally be discarded after one use. This imposes both an economic and environmental burden, the economic burden being related to the costs involved in having to constantly fabricate full cardboard containers. The environmental burden stems from the fact that a significant fraction of the waste currently being disposed of in landfill sites comprises packaging of some sort or another.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a bottle or can container and lid combination utilizing a locking mechanism which permits the use of dissimilar materials for the fabrication of the container and lid portions whereby the container can be reused on a regular basis and the lid can be readily discarded.